Football: Clutch plays help Bronchos hold off Rebels, improve to 4-0

AMARILLO When his football career is over, Odessa High defensive back Tyler Mints might want to look at a career in the insurance business - because Friday night, he was all hands.

Mints, picking up a low snap from center, put the ball on the tee just in time for Travis Austin to connect on a 27-yard field goal with 52 seconds remaining, putting the cap on a 45-35 victory over Amarillo Tascosa in a District 2-5A matchup at Dick Bivins Stadium.

For the second straight week, the Bronchos (4-0 overall, 3-0 district) roared out to a big lead and then watched their opponent claw its way back into the game in the second half.

"I was just trying to get the ball up there for Travis," Mints said. "I think that we relaxed again after getting a lead and I know that I personally am going to work on that over the next two weeks."

Odessa High's victory sets up the crosstown rivalry showdown with Permian (4-0, 3-0) on Oct. 3 at Ratliff Stadium.

Running back Bradley Marquez had another stellar night for the Bronchos. Th sophomore scored two rushing touchdowns, a receiving touchdown and took a kickoff 97 yards for another score.

 Marquez carried the ball 24 times for 155 yards and caught two passes for 69 yards.

Junior quarterback Derrick Teegarden was 16-of-23 for 217 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for another score.

Linebacker Cody Ross and defensive back Ricardo Enriquez both had interceptions for OHS.

After OHS took a 42-14 lead with 5:55 left in the third quarter, the Rebels (1-3, 0-3) roared back into the game behind the play of quarterback Dalton Brooks and wide receiver Toby Dennis.

Brooks, who struggled in the first half, finished the night 21-of-34 for 243 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for two scores.

Dennis caught seven of the passes for 95 yards, including a 12-yard reception with 10:44 to play in the game that cut the OHS lead to seven, 42-35.

"I don't think that we relaxed as much as Tascosa took it to us," OHS coach Ron King said. "That quarterback did a very good job of running their offense and brought the back into the game.

"This is a victory and I'm not going to give it back. But we have two weeks to work on correcting the mental mistakes that we are still making, because they are going to come back to bite us down the road if we don't."

After Dennis' touchdown reception, the Rebels were driving toward a tying touchdown when safety Enriquez made the biggest play of his OHS career.

With Brooks dropping back to pass and looking for Tanner Dennis in the left slot, Enriquez jumped the route and intercepted the pass with 5:59 to play in the game, giving the Bronchos the ball at their own 36.

"I just read his eyes," Enriquez said of Brooks. "The coaches are always telling us to break on the ball and I was able to make the interception. That's my first one on varsity."

After the interception, Teegarden drove the Bronchos to the Rebels' 5 in 13 plays, including a fourth-down conversion at the Tascosa 20.

Then, on fourth-and-1 from the 5, Teegarden raced over the right side for a touchdown that was nullified by a penalty, bringing Austin onto the field for the clinching field goal.

>> Odessa High 45, Amarillo Tascosa 35

Odessa High               14  21    7    3     - 45

Amarillo Tascosa          7    7  14    7     - 35

First Quarter

Tascosa-Tanner Dennis 62 run (Barrett Conway kick), 10:06. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 1:54. Key play: Dennis' touchdown run came on a fake punt on fourth-and 2 from the Rebels' 38.

Odessa-Bradley Marquez 3 run (Travis Austin kick), 5:59. Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 4:07. Key play: On fourth-and 12 from the Tascosa 27, OHS quarterback Derrick Teegarden scrambles around the left corner for 12 yards.

Odessa-Derrick Teegarden 13 run (Travis Austin kick), 1:08. Drive: 4 plays, 24 yards, 1:33. Key play: Linebacker Cody Ross stripping Tascosa running back Casey Burkhardt at the Rebels' 24 to set up the offense.

Second Quarter

Odessa-Bradley Marquez 73 run (Travis Austin kick), 10:29. Drive: 2 plays, 73 yards, :59.

Tascosa-Dalton Brooks 5 run (Barrett Conway kick), 8:18. Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards, 2:11. Key play: On fourth-and 2 from the OHS 38, the Rebels were able to pull the Bronchos offside for a first down to extend the drive.

Odessa-Bradley Marquez 97 kickoff return (Travis Austin kick), 8:05.

Odessa-Bradley Marquez 59 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Travis Austin kick), 3:35. Drive: 5 plays, 70 yards, 2:08.   Key play: On second-and 19 from the OHS 32, Ronnie Marquez rushed over the right side for nine yards, setting up Marquez's touchdown on the next play.

Third Quarter

Odessa-Ronnie Marquez 3 run (Travis Austin kick), 5:54. Drive: 5 plays, 43 yards, 2:17. Key play: On second-and 10 from the Rebels' 29, quarterback Derrick Teegarden hit Miles Torres with a 26-yard pass to the 3.

Tascosa-Dalton Brooks 17 run (Barrett Conway kick), 4:06. Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards, 1:48. Key play: Tanner Dennis' rush for 13 yards around the left corner on second-and 9 from the OHS 47.

Tascosa-Casey Brukhardt 39 pass from Dalton Brooks (Barrett Conway kick), 3:52. Drive: 1 play, 39 yards, :14.

Fourth Quarter

Tascosa-Toby Dennis 12 pass from Dalton Brooks (Barrett Conway kick), 10:44. Drive: 9 plays, 60 yards, 3:17          Key play: On fourth-and 1 from the Tascosa 49, quarterback Dalton Brooks hit Toby Dennis for 25 yards down to the OHS 26.

Odessa-FG Travis Austin 27, :52.

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TEAM STATISTICS

                        Odessa High   Amarillo Tascosa

First downs      19                    20

Total yards      445                  461

Rushes-yards 41-228             33-218

Passing           217                  243

Comp-Att-Int    15-23-0           21-34-2

Sacked-Yards Lost                  2-15                 2-10

Punt returns     1-20                 0-0

Kickoff returns  5-97                 3-80

Punts-Avg.       4-25.5              2-44.0

Fumbles-Lost  1-0                   2-1

Penalties-9-75                        4-25

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Odessa High

Bradley Marquez 24-155, Derrick Teegarden 12-50, Ronnie Marquez 5-23.

Amarillo Tascosa

Tanner Dennis 9-104, Dalton Brooks 19-102, Casey Burkhardt 4-12

PASSING

Odessa High

Derrick Teegarden 14-23-0-217

Amarillo Tascosa

Dalton Brooks 31-24-2-243

RECEIVING

Odessa High

Gabriel Rodriguez 5-81, Bradley Marquez 2-69, Mile Torres 4-58, Tyler McQueen 2-11, Eric Maestas 1-5, Ronnie Marquez 1-2, Joseph Limon 1-(-2).

Amarillo Tascosa

Toby Dennis 7-95, Casey Burkhardt 5-58, Quinton Travis 3-25, Jordon Garcia 2-16, John Allen 1-34, Tanner Dennis 3-10.

INTERCEPTIONS

Odessa High

Cody Ross, 1; Ricardo Enriquez 1.